

We can build and run the Android app with KMM code without Xcode. If we want to try the iOS side of things, we’ll need to install Xcode, too.

In this post, we’ll learn KMM by building a small note-taking application with local database operations. You only need to write platform-specific code like UI. With KMM, you can write the core of your app in Kotlin and use it in both Android and iOS applications. So how can you execute your idea with a minimum learning curve? Enter Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile, or KMM.Īccording to their official website, “Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) is an SDK designed to simplify the development of cross-platform mobile applications.” But what about the core of the app? Even if you have experience with iOS development, rewriting the same core for iOS can be redundant. If you have experience developing mobile UIs for Android, you can probably follow some SwiftUI tutorials and get by just fine. You are confident that you can build an app for Android easily, but are not so sure about iOS. Imagine that you are an expert Android developer with an idea for a killer app. Building cross-platform mobile apps with Kotlin Multiplatform That said, support and more efficient ways of working are likely to emerge as more adoption occurs and developers get more experience with the technology.Asutosh Nayak Follow Engineer with a special focus on Android and deep learning. Additionally, the preferred IDE for KMM is AndroidStudio, whereas iOS native development is most likely to be done using Xcode, which could impact developer experience and speed using unfamiliar tools. The compilation of the package after small changes to the shared layer can lead to slow build times for iOS developers.


iOS developers who are not familiar with Kotlin would need some assistance from the Android developers on the team to work on the shared layer. For example, there is currently no official firebase support, which means you would either have to find some workarounds or spin up your own. It also requires native Android and iOS developers to write part of the code for the app in question.Īlthough it is in good shape for an Alpha release, there aren’t the same levels of ready-made, well-tested libraries or packages as there are for more mature methodologies. KMM is still in Alpha at the time of writing and, thus, may contain many bugs, have missing features and introduce breaking changes to your codebase further down the line.
